Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUNO STAUB (PORTRAIT); JESSE JAMES HOFFMAN (SKIERS) "What drives me is to provide a better experience for the user. Aztech Mountain believes the same thing," says Bode Miller, pictured above with business partners (FROM LEFT) David Roth and Heifara Rutgers. LEFT: An Aspen Mountain skier takes a turn in Aztech's Nuke Suit jacket ($1,850). BODE-FIED THE MOST SUCCESSFUL, STORIED SKIER IN HISTORY TEAMS UP WITH ASPEN SKIWEAR BRAND AZTECH MOUNTAIN. BY GREG FITZSIMMONS Bode Miller's introduction to Aztech Mountain, the Aspen-based luxury ski and lifestyle sportswear brand for men, was battle-tested. On a August, 2015, photo shoot in Portillo, Chile, the weather turned nasty; winds were whipping, snow was blowing, and the temperature was frigid. "I kept gravitating back to this jacket from Aztech Mountain, a brand I had never heard of," says Miller, 39. "It had a better fit and better cut than everything else. It was warmer and more useful than the rest of the wardrobe. By the end of the day, I had a good idea of the jacket's performance and attributes. It was the best ski jacket I'd ever put on." Fast-forward one month to an uptown soirée in New York, in the Fifth Avenue penthouse of real estate developer Robert Siegel, a principal investor in handcrafted ski company Bomber. Miller, in attendance, spotted the cofounder and owner of Aztech Mountain across the room and approached him to praise his upstart company. Born-and-bred Aspenite Heifara Rutgers was stunned—Miller, the six-time Olympic medalist, winner of 33 World Cup races, and two-time World Cup champion, was his childhood idol. That night, Miller and Rutgers, along with Rutgers's partner, Aztech cofounder David Roth, forged a friendship that would soon turn into something bigger. Miller, so impressed by Aztech's wares, joined the ranks at the burgeoning Aspen-based brand last September as an equity partner and chief innovation officer. While the brand launched in New ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM 89 STYLE IN THE MOUN TAINS